Well here’s the thing though (not to invalidate what you are saying about cannabis users). I’m just saying because I work in the field of addiction, and it’s a bit of a twist on the perspective
People often have an unconscious idea that the mood altering substance drives the behavior. But it’s actually the other way around, typically the specifics of the individual’s mental health and emotional issues drive the consumption of the specific substance.
Alcohol users, for example, have generally extreme anxiety disorders. Those arise for a variety of very valid reasons. So it’s more accurate to say people who have severe anxiety, tend to self-medicate with alcohol. And people who stick with cannabis, have other issues they are running from
It’s just a little twist on perspective, that’s all. A lot of times we think about what alcohol does to people, but neglect to see that the problem preceeds the drinking
I will declare my bias, even though I am a cannabis user, I think it is a substance which most people are in heavy denial about. We are currently exiting the zeitgeist of “it’s a panacea” and finally starting to embrace the fact that it’s a very dangerous substance for most users. We can overtly see for example a drunk punching a hole in the wall, but we don’t really see in the same way, a heavy cannabis user who’s becoming emotionally non-functional and can’t govern his/her own life. Or who can no longer distinguish observable reality from the thoughts in their head.
Well here’s the thing though (not to invalidate what you are saying about cannabis users). I’m just saying because I work in the field of addiction, and it’s a bit of a twist on the perspective
People often have an unconscious idea that the mood altering substance drives the behavior. But it’s actually the other way around, typically the specifics of the individual’s mental health and emotional issues drive the consumption of the specific substance.
Alcohol users, for example, have generally extreme anxiety disorders. Those arise for a variety of very valid reasons. So it’s more accurate to say people who have severe anxiety, tend to self-medicate with alcohol. And people who stick with cannabis, have other issues they are running from
It’s just a little twist on perspective, that’s all. A lot of times we think about what alcohol does to people, but neglect to see that the problem preceeds the drinking
I will declare my bias, even though I am a cannabis user, I think it is a substance which most people are in heavy denial about. We are currently exiting the zeitgeist of “it’s a panacea” and finally starting to embrace the fact that it’s a very dangerous substance for most users. We can overtly see for example a drunk punching a hole in the wall, but we don’t really see in the same way, a heavy cannabis user who’s becoming emotionally non-functional and can’t govern his/her own life. Or who can no longer distinguish observable reality from the thoughts in their head.